Tank upgrade question...

[boricuamed]

I am not sure if someone else has asked this before... I am upgrading to a 90g tank from a 55g. Is it safe to mix and add the 30+ gallons of water when I move the sand and livestock to the new tank, or do I risk "cycling" the tank again due to the large volume of "new" water? I am curious as to if anyone has had issue with such a jump in water volume before.

Thanks.

[Stupidsreef]

I went from a 90g to a 225 gallon. I went through a cycle.

Your going from a 55 to a 90. I would defently use the 55's water, LS & LR as this will help. I think that is the tank it's self. Like a skimmer has to break in I think the tank does too. I have a friend who went from a 240 to a 90. He use the water, LS & LR and he still went through a cycle, just not that bad. You will stirr everything up in the sand and rock's I think that's really what causes the cycle. Here's my advise

1.Make sure you upgrade to a skimmer that can handle 180 gallons.
2.Use RO/DI water for the new salt
3.Place LR , Fish, & coral in some type of holding system.
4.If you add new sand place it in the 90 first, then add sand from the 55 as top layer only.
5.place LR into 90 and fire up all pumps and skimmer.
6.after a few hour's then place everything into the 90.

No matter what I think you'll go through a cycle. But I don't think it will be huge.

[yote]

Any time you move every from one tank to another,you risk a cycle.Like Stu said,stirring up the sand,and the crud off the rock,aint exactly what we normally want to do.
I've seen up-grades cycle,and seen them not cycle.2 up-grades myself without one,and hopeing for a third in a few weeks.

[Stupidsreef]

Yote you most likely had a cycle, but it was so small it went unoticed due to your equiment keeping it undercontrol. That and I've read through some of your threads, you know what your doing and I'm sure you cut down on things like strirring the sand up. I'll bet you take your time and are really carefull at what your doing too.

[yote]

Brotha,You never seen the panic I go into when switching tanks
But yeah,I do FORCE myself to slow down and take my time.

[Stupidsreef]

Most folk don't know that the coral will survive in a bucket or another tank for a day or two with nothing more than a power head and heater. When I switch from the 90 to the 255 my corals and 1 fish stayed in a 5 gallon bucket for 2 day's like that. I was letting the new skimmer break in and try to get a jump on cleaning the gunk before I added them. Plus everything gets to settle a little bit too.

But hey I didn't know that until I started hanging out at the LFS's and meeting the seasoned hobbiest around here.

[mng777777]

anytime you move LR so that it has different exposure to light, you are going to have die-off which can force a cycle. Your best bet will be to keep you current LR in a similar position relative to the light as you move it into it's new home, anticipate the spike in your levels, and be prepared to do some extra water changes to combat it. If you listen to Yote, and take your time, you should be ok.

[boricuamed]

Thanks to everyone for the very helpful responses. I will keep you updated. I am planning on making the upgrade process between tomorrow and Friday.

Thanks again...

BTW--> Happy Thanksgiving!

[boricuamed]

Update-

I did have a cycle. I have been battling it for a week now, but the livestock has been able to survive with 10g water changes every 2 days. I also upgraded the skimmer, which has helped a lot now. Ammonia levels are going down now. I will keep all of you posted.

[mng777777]

good luck, I hope that everything pulls through for you. Try to avoid changing your aquascapeing or moving anything around in the new tank as that will prolong your cycle. Post some pics of the new set up!